OLUBUKUNOLA AROBIEKE
MA MEDIA PRODUCTION
M36CMC – INFORMATION SOCIETIES
PIRACY IN NIGERIA
The piracy situation in Nigeria worsened in 2008, with high quality counterfeit/pirated optical discs being sourced either to plants in the country or to imports, in either case indicative of a highly-organised criminal operation.
Trade losses and levels of piracy in Nigeria have traditionally is very high. Evidence suggests that Chinese and Southeast Asian pirate gangs have infiltrated Nigeria and set up more than a dozen optical disc operations, some reported to have mastering facilities.
The music industry has long been an easy target, demoralising local Nigerian and international music markets.
These pirates have advanced, counterfeiting sophisticated and expensive software packages that include hacks or cracks to authenticate the products on users’ machines.
The promising but growing Internet presence and a toxic brew of mainly physical, but some digital, piracy has collectively destroyed the legitimate market in Nigeria for copyright. In the United States right holders feel the damage of piracy but Nigerian creators feel it much more.
Upon the enactment of the Copyright (Optical Disc Plants) Regulation 2006, Eddie Ugbomeh, a Nigerian actor and film producer said,
“I no longer release videos or DVDs into the Nigerian market … The last time I released VCDs to video rental outlets across the country, they never gave me any returns. In Port Harcourt, Rivers state, these rental operators even threaten to kill me if I come for my money. Same thing at Warri, Delta state. So I’ve made up my mind not to release VCDs in the present circumstances.”
Nigeria remains a country overrun with pirate materials, stunting the growth of any legitimate industry. Pirate CD-Rs containing copyright materials, for example, compilations of up to 300 songs by local and international artists, or popular business software titles, sell for less than the equivalent of $1 in the local market.
Software piracy has significantly worsened in the past twelve months due to lack of enforcement. Disturbingly, perfect counterfeits, including counterfeit authenticity seals/holograms of popular business software packages have appeared in Nigeria, providing further evidence of highly sophisticated collective activity in the country.
Book piracy continues to be a serious problem, partially due to the Nigerian government’s decision in 2003 to cut funding for university and library purchases. This decision has created an environment encouraging illegal photocopying, thereby plaguing the academic market.
Furthermore, Nigeria has for years been a destination for pirate book imports, primarily from Asia, China and Malaysia.
The relative success of Nollywood, Nigeria’s home video industry and local music market is a surprise despite the piracy situation.
Piracy has caused Nigerian local film and music producers to suffer huge losses, meaning that musicians still depend heavily on concerts and “road shows” to capitalise their popularity and make up for insufficient amounts they collect in royalties from CD sales.
Copyright protection in Nigeria is governed by the Copyright Act (Cap 68 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990) as amended. The law, while by no means perfect, provides a solid basis for enforcing copyright and combating piracy.
References
WIPPOMAGAZINE (2008) STRAP and CLAMP – Nigeria Copyright
Commission in Action [online] available from
<http:www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2008
/05/article_0009.htm1> [18 March 2009]
International Intellectual Property Alliance (2009) Nigeria: International
Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) 2009 Special
301 Report on Copyright Protection and Enforcement
[online] available from < http://72.30.186.56/
search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=piracy+in+nigeria
&rd=r1&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.iipa.com/rbc/
2009/2009SPEC301NIGERIA.pdf&w=piracy
+nigeria&rd=EAQ2HJ2uSagU&icp=1&.intl=uk>
